Jammu and Kashmir BJP received a major boost today as the party retained the prestigious Nagrota Assembly seat, with its nominee Divyani Rana winning the by-election by a margin of 24,647 votes.
Divyani Rana secured 42,350 votes, while her nearest rival, Harsh Dev Singh of the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, received 17,703 votes. Harsh Dev Singh is a veteran politician, three-time MLA, and former minister. Shamim Begum, the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference candidate, secured 10,872 votes. A total of ten candidates were in the fray for this by-election.
An approximately 75.08% voter turnout was recorded in the Nagrota by-election held on Tuesday. During the 2024 Assembly elections, Nagrota had recorded a 77.66% turnout. Although by-elections typically witness lower voter participation, Nagrota still registered a robust 75% turnout—close to last year's figure.
In the 2024 Assembly elections, BJP's Devender Singh Rana had polled 48,113 votes, while NC's Joginder Singh finished a distant second with 17,641 votes. Congress candidate Balbir Singh managed only 5,979 votes, securing the third position, while the remaining five candidates received votes in three digits. A total of 74,083 votes were polled.
A similar number of votes were cast in this year's by-election. There were around 98,000 registered voters in the Nagrota constituency this time—only a couple thousand more than last year.
The Nagrota by-election was necessitated by the sudden demise of BJP stalwart Devender Singh Rana within days of his election and oath-taking as MLA.
The BJP fielded Devyani Rana, daughter of the late Devender Singh Rana, in the by-poll. She faced NC's Shamim Begum, a sitting District Development Council (DDC) member; Harsh Dev Singh of JKNPP, a former minister; and BJP rebel Anil Sharma, who contested as an independent candidate. Six other candidates were also in the contest.
Devyani Rana, an Economics graduate from the University of California, campaigned on a platform of "professional and inclusive development," while Shamim Begum relied on grassroots outreach and the organizational strength of the NC to project continuity in local governance.
]Nagrota has alternated between the BJP and NC in the last five Assembly elections since 1996, with the BJP winning three times and the NC twice. The Congress did not field a candidate in Nagrota and also refrained from joining the NC campaign despite being in alliance with the party at the UT level.
The BJP won the seat in 2002, 2008, and 2024, while the National Conference secured victories in 1996 and 2014.
In 2008 and 2014, BJP leader Jugal Kishore Sharma had won elections from this seat. In 1996, the National Conference's Ajatshatru Singh had won this seat. In 2014 and 2024, late Devender Singh Rana had won this seat as a National Conference and BJP candidate, respectively. In 2025, BJP's Devender Singh Rana's daughter Divyani won this seat.
